The Edinburgh Book Trade and Vernacular Literature, 1500–1660

Abstract

Chapter 2 surveys the development of the book trade in Edinburgh during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries with a particular emphasis on the production and circulation of more popular works in Scots and English. It traces the development of printing in Edinburgh, looks at the expansion of booksellers in the city, and examines the role of travelling chapmen in disseminating literature across Scotland and into England. The remarkable inventories of Thomas Bassandyne and Robert Gourlaw are examined in some detail in order to shed light on the extensive range of vernacular literature from the London market that was being sold in the Scottish capital in the later sixteenth century.